Vacuum-tube lighting.



D. MOF. MOORE. VACUUM TUBE LIGHTING.

APPLICATION FILED PEB. 26,1907.

1,042,587. Patented 001529,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

'lllllllllllpl'lh Y l A'TRNEY S.

D. MGF. MOORE. VACUUM TUBE LIGHTING.

APPLICATION FILED 21113.26, 1907.

1 ,042,58'7, I Patented 0013. 29, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

7 ab, m4 w /8 im /7 i n n u /7 m n ATTORNEY S D. MGRMOORE. VACUUM TUBE LIGHTING.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 26,1907.

1,042,587, Patented Oct. 29, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ATURNEYS,

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEroE.

DANIEL MoFABLAN MoonE, oF NEWARK, N` w JERSEY, AssIGNoB. To ENEBAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPO TION OF NEW YORK. i

vacuum-TUBE LIGHTING.

tions of tubing joined end to end to make a continuous gas-tight tubeextended from one point to another over the area to be illuminated as described in my prior Re-l issue Patent No. 12,561, dated Nov. 20, 1906. In building up a tube of this character, the practice hasl heretofore been to fuse the sections of tubing together end to end by thel `use of a glass blowers lamp or fire which is applied to the abutted'ends of the tube when in place for the purpose of makinga fused glass joint. l f The object-of/my present invention is to facilitate the building up of the tube and to make it possible to dispense with the services of the glass blower.

I have discovered that in the practice of my invention when carried out by the use of automatic gas feeding devices as described in my prior Patent No. 820,364, dated May 8th, 1906, it is practicable to install and operate the system by the use of mechanical joints between sections of vtubing, by which I mean jointsvformed by 'mechanical devices or by the application of oements in contradistinction to jointsf'formed by fusing the ends of the glass tubes directly tother. f

y invention consists in the construction of joints and fixtures for electric lighting shows in side elevation a portlon of a conmv tubes as hereinafter described and more Paf? t'icularly specified in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l pound tube mounted in fixtures and supported in accordance' with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through a preferred form of fixture and joint for t-ne meeting'ends of the tube'sections Fig. V3 is. a cross section through the fixture and yglass tube on'the line A, B Fig. 2. Figs.

4,t5,.6:and 7 illustrate forms of alpminuml Specification of Letters Patent. ,Aplnlcation tiled February 26, 1307. Serial No.`359,445.1

employed in making the mechanical joint.v Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 show other forms of mechanical joint that may be used in practising m invention.

Referring to ig. 1, four sections of glass tubing 1 are shown end to end, the same constituting the end portion of the continuous lighting tube, lone terminalonly of which is shown inthe casing 2 as -provided withv the usual electric terminal' or elec-` trode 3.

4 is the ceiling or other support frdm which depend the rods or hangers 5 termi# nating at their bottom in suitablefixtures 6, on or in which latter thel abutting or meeting ends of the sections are located and are connected to one another by a suitable mechanical seal or joint aii` and gas tight instead of by fusing. The ends of the tubes for one form of. such joint are indicated by the dotted line 17. The-ring or .other support y6 whichencircles the end of the tubes where they meet and which, bythe assistance of the hanger 5, affords a support for the same may be of greaterA or less length in the direction of the axis of the tube according to the nature of the joint or mechanical seal. l Said rin if of metal may be fastened to a porcelain insulating block 7 by means of a screw 8, said block being itself sustained properly in the tubular hanger 5 as illustrated in Fig. 2. This par;

Patentedoet. 29,1912.

orother metal sleeve or tube which may be i ticular construction of insulating support -j for the tube I claim in my prior application vfor patent filed Feb. 26,1907, Serial No. 359,446, Patent No. 1,028,092.

The ring, tube or sleeve -6 .for theform of joint shown in Fig. 2 is preferably. provided at its ends with the compression rings 9 of metal connected by a screw thread with the ends 5f the' metal tube! and adapted to force sealing washers'lO into irm engage` ment'with the outersurface of the sections lof tubing where they fit or engage with saidtubes and also to force them against the inner surfaces ofthe metal thereby forming air and gas-tight joints so that, the remaining or intermedlate portions 'of .the

vmetal sleeve or cylinder being unbroken and gas-tight, gas will be prevented from leaking into or out of the tube through the joint at the abutting ends ofthe'ltube sections. This washer l0may be of-vulcanized ber and In'ayt intol thetapering mouth of the metal tube as shown so as to be wedged tightly therein by the action of the screw rings 9, or said washer might be of some more elastic material which would tend to expand in the direction of the plane occupied by the ring on being subjected to pressure parallel to the axis of the ring. In order to still further insure a good mechanical seal, I may employ in addition a tube of metal such as aluminum indicated at 11. Said tube 11 may be formed as a sleeve to tit tightly upon the outside of both tube sections or may be a bushing to fit tightly on the inside of said meeting tube sections" or may lie inside one section and outside the other, this latter being the form shown in Fig. 2. The other forms are shown in Figs. 4 and ,6 and likewise in Fig. 5.

Preferably, I construct this tube of aluminum in such form that it shall'be engaged by the abutting edges of the tube sections when forced together end to end and being itself continuous will thereby more ettectually complete the seal. Preferably, the portion so engaged consists of a compressible section of a tube indicated at 12.v

As shown in Fig. 5, the tube of aluminum or other metal might be plain or as shown in Fig. 7 and anothertube 11 might be applied over the same.

`WVithin the metal ring or tube 6 is a mass of cement indicated at 13 which may be filled into the same through an opening 14 after the parts already described have been located within the part 6. This still further perfecte the mechanical seal..

Instead of a compressible ring or gasket V10 at the ends of the metal fixture operating with the tube 6 as described to make a mechanical seal, I may employ, as indicated in Fig. 8, some material like a metal alloy readily fusible and of such character that it will unite readily with the glass tubing. Said metal alloy preparatory to the formation of the joint may be held within the ends of the metal tube or ring 6 by means of the flanged metal rings 16 applied over the ends of tube 6. The ends of the sections of tubing having been located as in close contact as may be within the ring 6, a blow pipe may be applied to -melt the alloy and establish the mechanical seal required.

Fig. 9 shows another form of mechanical seal which may be employed and which, as before, is preferably located within and supported by the tubular support 6 carried by the hanger or arm 5. In this form, the abutting ends -of the tube sections are provided with flanges which retain the rings 17 and prevent them from meeting under the action of the clampin screws 18 which pass through' arms exten ing from said rings. On the application of pressure through the medium of the sections, the abutted ends of the tubes are forced firmly together and held, the mechanical joint thus formed being properly supported in the ring or tube 6. To assist in the formation of this joint, any substance such as grease, oil, cement or other known sealing material may be placed between the abutted surfaces and said abutted surfaces may be curved as shown to further aid-in producing a good joint.

Instead of uslng clamping devices, I may form the mechanical seal in the manner shown in Fig. 11 by grinding the ends of the sections and lfitting them into one another, grease, gum, glue or similar substance being employed on the ground surfaces, if desired.

As shown in Fig. 10, the sealing alloy may be employed without the use of retaining anged rings 16.

Another form of mechanical joint that may be convenientlyused is illustrated in Fig. 13 wherein I show the supporting ring 6 as provided with a lining of asbestos 19, while the mechanical joint is made simply by the application of any cement or glue painted over the meeting edges of the tubes.

Fig. 12 shows a mechanical joint wherein a sealing tape or cloth 20 is cemented over the line of meeting of the tube sections after which an outer layer of glue or cement of any kind, indicated at V21, is applied to complete the joint.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a fixture for sectional vacuum tube lamps, a supporting sleeve of metal adapted to sustain the abutted ends of the sections of glass tubing in juxtaposition within it, means for making a seal at thetube joint within said sleeve, a supporting tube, an insulating block sustaining the sleeve, J'i'ieans for fastening the sleeve to the block and means for fastening the block to the supporting tube.

2. A combined fixture and seal for vacuum tube lamps having sections of glass tubing arranged end to end, comprising a supporting sleeve and hanger for sustaining the tube at the meeting of the sections, a sealing sleeve formed with a compressible off-set adapted to lie between the abutting edges -of said sections and means on said s eeve for forcing said sections together.

3. In a fixture for a vacuum tube .lamp having sections of glass t-ubing y arranged end to end, a sleeve surrounding and sustaining. the 'junction ofl the tubes and of larger internal diameterv than the outer diameter of the tubes themselves, compression rings upon the ends of said sleeve, scaling washers engaged by said rings and located in the ends of the sleeves, cementing material filling the space between the sleeves and the tubes and a tube 11 applied over the tube at the joint between the tube sections and lying partially between their abutting ends as and for the purpose described.

4. Ina fixturer for vacuum tube lighting, the combination of asupporting tube, 'a block of insulation having a vertical countersink, a tube-supporting ring, a fastening screw for securing. the rmg to the lower side offthe block and a. clamping screw passing through` the side of the supporting tube and into said blockto clamp it in said tube.

DANIELMCFARL'AN MOORE.

Witnesses:

C. F. TIsoHNER, Jr., LnJLmN BLOND. 

